As the founder of an aircraft cleaning business, and after franchising it all over the country, I often get asked about the industry. Detailing and Cleaning corporate aircraft is a great business and the pay is very good. Recently, a successful operator of a car detailing company asked me about the aircraft-detailing sector as a potential place to expand his business.

Subject: Expanding into Aircraft - Looking at expanding our current detail business into the aircraft industry. Where is the best place to investigate the pro and cons of this segment of the detailing business?

Well, perhaps the biggest cons to adding Aircraft Detailing to your mix is Time, Aggravation, and Cost.

Time:

It takes time to develop Aircraft Corporate Detailing Accounts, but once you have a few the word of mouth is good and brings you in lots of business.

Aggravation:

It is aggravating to have to deal with the many airport rules, background checks for all employees and the time it takes the bureaucracy to process your "Airport Activity Permit", but once completed it acts as a barrier to entry keeping out competition and gives you an exclusive on the captured customer base. Generally, there are only 2-3 aircraft cleaning companies on an airport.

Cost:

Cost is a huge consideration, as the airport will require increased liability insurance, and that could run you several thousand dollars, depending on the situation. Generally the airport wants to be additionally insured for 5 million or more in liability insurance. Insurance companies need you to pay some of that upfront, yet realize you have not cleaned your first aircraft yet. Worse, the permit at the airport can take as long as 3-months to process, usually faster, but it gets ridiculous sometimes.